Anything but Common: The Hidden Life of the American Crow

I feel pretty confident in identifying crows - they are all over my neighborhood and very chatty in the morning

We find the tails and eyes helpful to ID them.

I feel that I have a much better understanding between the two, but have much more to learn.

I think where I get stuck is still crow vs raven.  I often wonder if the birds I see around are crows are ravens and usually just think they are all crows.  However after listening to the difference in their calls, I realize that there are definitely ravens around.  Now I need to start paying more attention so I can distinguish them.

I feel confident in comparing crows to ravens, cowbirds, and grackles. They are all present at one time of year or another where I live. I always thought that ravens were just large crows. We have more ravens here than crows. We also have buzzards here.

I’m very confident identifying crows from other black birds. I got all the questions right on the SnapID quizzes. Grackles, blackbirds, and cowbirds are all much smaller, have different beak shapes and wing shapes than crows. Ravens are a bit trickier to distinguish, but they are still distinct due to size, feathers, and beak shape.

I'm getting better at distinguishing.  Grackles and blackbirds in flight are still confusing; however, crows are so noisy that I usually can id them fairly quickly.

I think that crows are a bit bigger than the other birds listed. I occasionally have trouble telling crows apart from turkey vultures.

Grackle's eye color is a distinguishing marker as is the color of some of the grackles. To me they look sort of doofus when walking. Coloring: brown-headed blackbird is sort of easy, and the red-wing blackbird is easy (they're also smaller than a crow). Ravens seem to be scruffier and in some of the pictures they looked "oiled".

I see the shape of the beak  is a bit taller then the other birds.

Against other blackbirds: crows' eyes, tails, and wings are very distinguishable from the other blackbirds   Against ravens: more difficult, but the tails, size, and beak feathers work well to distinguish the two   It would be helpful to include a "choose the raven" (vs crows) module.  Thinking from a different orientation would reinforce the raven vs crow lesson.

-I struggled more with the flight pictures. If available in the photo I used the eye color and beak to distinguish. In nature I would listen for their specific calls.

I'm fairly confident. In the darker photos above, I got confused.

Shape of the beak.

I feel confident that I can tell a crow from other blackbirds in flight and perched. I am going up to NH in a few weeks where there are ravens so I hope to see some so I can use what I have learned so far to tell them apart!

I think I could distinguish crows from the grackles and ravens up close, but from far away or in flight I may not be sure.

If I can't get a good look at a bird, I'll likely have trouble identifying it. But I'm pretty confident in my crow spotting abilities. The contempt I hold for brown-headed cowbirds definitely keeps me on the lookout for their distinguishing traits, so I'm at least good at differentiating them from other birds.

I am confident that I can distinguish crows from ravens and other black birds, but if I lived where there were crows and ravens together, I would not be so confident in flight, that's for sure.

Still Learning, thus this class, BUT.. Thanks to this course I am much more confident now. I look at eyes, wings, i.e. 4 or 5 pointed or rounded, iridescent color as opposed to not, black eyes. Enjoying the course.

There was brief mention that a crow spotted in Europe is a Rook. As a UK resident I think I can relate the details in the course to crows, but is this accurate/possible and if neither what species and facts should I be learning?

I have learned to distinguish crows from other black birds online, but out of doors, I'm not so sure.  We only have a few crows around us, but I feed them every day so I am able to see their black eyes, beaks, rounded feathers and squarer tails.  Learning this much has been very interesting.   Thank you for the course,  Wendy

I am confident in distinguishing crows from other blackbirds overall. It is a little more difficult in flight, but it's much easier to tell the American Crow apart from other blackbird species in general, such as the Common Grackle or Red-Winged Blackbird. I can distinguish an American Crow and Common Raven up close fairly quickly, but it's of course tougher in the field. This lesson has helped me reinforce the differences between these two species, and I will continue practicing in the field to differentiate crows and ravens (especially in-flight profile, I've been using mostly that along with vocal and behavioral cues to distinguish them when the opportunity presents itself).

I am confident with my abilities to distinguish the American Crow from other birds that might share some of its traits. Tips: Look for additional colors/patterns. Some birds have shiny or different-looking feathers from the crow ( raven, grackle), or different colors ( blackbird, bronzed cowbird).

I can mostly tell crows apart from other "black birds", usually by checking the tail (in the case of grackles) or looking for a color other than black on the bird (Red-wings, cowbirds). One tip for separating grackles from Corvids is iridescence - the black on a grackle is not a true black but is iridescent and shines with blues and greens in direct sunlight (beautiful). Grackles and other blackbirds also have a light- or white-colored iris, unlike crows and ravens which have dark irises (admittedly, you do need to be closer to the bird to see the iris color, but these birds often land on the ground or perch in trees which makes identifying iris color simpler). I live in central NC but often visit the Outer Banks of NC. Both American and Fish Crows occur in the Outer Banks, with Fish Crows more common. Now, those two species are very hard to tell apart. The best way I know to tell the difference is voice - they sound quite different, but doesn't help when the crow flying by or perched is silent. I know the Fish Crow is smaller than the American Crow, but that is only useful if one happens to see both species next to each other (that doesn't happen, or at least has never happened for me). Any additional tips for identifying these 2 species would help.

Mostly confident.  Check out tails

• We don't get any visits from ravens where I live. The only other black (looking) birds we have around here are grackles. There are some crows that visit every so often -- they usually fly over in groups. Very sociable they are. Their calls give them away to their presence. I love all corvids, and I love to see crows around. My name is Raven, so I guess I'm biased for this bird species.

I am confident in my ability to distinguish crows from ravens and other birds with superficial similarities, but not confident in identifying all of the non-corvid 'blackbirds' yet. I am hopeful that this will come with more practice.

This is going fine but I will be d..d if I can get to the next lesson!!! Im cawing my head off.

I'm not that confident in my ability to identify the American Crow yet.  However, I always look at the beak and the tail feathers when I see a Crow.  The beak on the Crow seems less pointed and "chubbier" than the beak a lot of black birds have.

I feel confident that I can distinguish between Crows and Ravens.  Not sure I've seen a Grackle.  But I'll look for the yellow eyes.

Many of the discussants noted the yellow eye color of the grackles and other non-crows. In addition, in the first lesson, I noted that some of the Crows have squared-off tails rather than rounded.

No. I live in an area where skies are often gray, so these perfect photos are not what I usually see. I have never seen a Brewer's Blackbird. I have to travel a long way for Boat-tailed or Great-tailed Grackles. My binoculars rarely give me a look at the eye which helps with Grackle ID, and I have great binoculars. Birds in flight will always be a struggle and with Crows there is the need to learn wing motion to decide if you have a distant crow or a raptor.  So, no confidence with flight.  Of the birds you selected we get cowbirds, red-wings, Common Grackles, Crows.

I struggle with wing and tail shapes when I can't see a grackle's color or eye

I don't get opportunities for Ravens around here. But I know most of the different characteristics. My issue is always the bird in flight. The pointier wing is new to me. Still working on the tail shape and neck differences. I ID more by sound when I bird and I have a lot to learn

If I can’t see the bird I can usually tell by the call.  Wings, tails, beak, ruff all help in distinguishing between the crow and the raven.  Between the Corvid and other black birds, no contest.

Though I got 100% on all the quizzes, I still tend to second guess myself with the crows vs. ravens. I feel sitting and watching their mannerisms has helped. For example how their heads move when they are making vocalizations. The pointy all around and throat feather clues are big takeaways from this lesson.

I still feel uncertain differentiating between crows and ravens when I see them flying or from a short distance.

Most of the black birds and grackles have light colored eyes. While the crow has dark eyes.

ravens usually hang out at higher elevations in Oregon

This one was easy. I had a much harder time with the first one, crows vs ravens. Even knowing the distinction between tail shape and number of “fingers”, I missed several.

Yes, I found it much more challenging to distinguish them from pictures of ravens.

I go mainly by ear—they are both much more ‘visible’ by sound than sight. Outside of downtown Philadelphia, along the river, we have American Crows, Fish Crows, and the occasional Common Raven.

I find the trick seems to be to look at ALL the clues - wings (rounded, five fingered), tail (square ended), head shape, beak shape, dark eyes, feathers around head and neck.  Any one of these may not be enough to identify (especially wing tips), but if I can see more than one part clearly, then I can probably accurately identify a crow.

My tip is that non-crows are sometimes more glossy, like their feathers have more oils.

Yes, I am quite confident.

Crows have dark eyes, many other black birds have yellow eyes

Between crow and raven, sometimes the fully spread raven tail looks like a crow to me. learning the wing tips! I have both around my home, so want to know them apart flying overhead.

In person, it's easy for me to distinguish crows from ravens.  Ravens aren't really in my area, so I don't see them much, if at all.  But if I do see them, they are much larger than crows, so that makes it easy.  Seeing pictures of each bird is a little more challenging. As far as crows vs. other blackbirds, I start with eye color, as many other black birds have light eyes, whereas crows have dark eyes.  I also look for other colors in the feathers.  Crows are all black, but other blackbirds may have sheen in their feathers or even bright colors or distinguishing colors.

I am feeling more confident with distinguishing crows from other blackbirds. I cannot say for certain that I am 100% on crows vs ravens though.  We have a lot of grackles here so determining the male grackles vs crows is pretty easy when you get close enough.

The yellow eyes of Grackles are an easy identifier if they're close enough to see

I am around here, and I think I would be where the big grackles live as well.  Some of the boat-tailed grackle photos in the SnapID were tough!

Crows are also exquisitely beautiful.

LOVE CROWS !  Not really a "birder" / more aspiring naturalist  :) Don't think we have Ravens here in Pa. (?).  Crows always alert me to a perched Owl nearby.  I could be inside the house, but when I hear them raising a ruckus, I know to grab the binocs and run outside ! Am thoroughly enjoying this course !

I now feel more confident in identifying American Crows from other kinds of blackbirds, but I still lack confidence in distinguishing American Crows from Common Ravens. However, the class builds my confidence and sharpens my eyes, so I feel I'll improve. Differentiating crows from other blackbirds is easier. The eye color and size differences are key characteristics that help identifying crows from other blackbirds.

Feel confident, also recognizing eye color is distinct compared to other birds is helpful.

If I were to see a raven, I'm pretty sure I'd get it wrong! Mainly because I have no experience with ravens. But I do well distinguishing crows from other birds. Grackles have those big yellow eyes. Also crows are much larger than other blackbirds. From a distance, I can always tell a crow in flight. There's a certain quality to the movement of the wings, it's hard to put into words, but I see it, I just know.

I am confident about my ability to distinguish crows from grackles, blackbirds, and cowbirds, but less so from the raven.

Agree.  Dark Eye is the best.   However head shaper plus beak are also differentiators.

the dark eye color often helped me distinguish, as well as the brownish cap for the cowbird, the midnight blue highlights for some grackles and the red wings of the blackbird, and in the field, I am getting to know some of the red winged blackbirds calls. I do see beak shape and tail shape differences, but have not obsorbed well enough for those to truly help me distinguish in the field - especially if no comparison available. As well I think I would get tripped up by the Brewer Blackbird. However, I expect the crow's call would be a good tip-off!

Blackbirds are small, and you can see their pupils. Crows are larger , have broader bills, and have dark eyes.

Blackbirds are small, and you can see their pupils, crows are larger , have broader bills, and have dark eyes.

Not so good with flying crows and ravens. But there are no ravens around here. Lots of grackles, but they are easy to identify.

I'm confident that I can identify crows.

I am very confident that I can tell crows and ravens and, yes, the "blackbirds" apart. Crows are party birds. They do loops in the air and are very noisy; they also have rounded tails and shorter neck feathers than ravens. Grackles have long tail feathers and, sometimes, yellow eyes. Ravens, however, have diamond-shaped tails and longer neck feathers than crows. I hope these tips help! (:

I am confident.

Yes, I am.

I find that grackles fly very different. They fly as if their tail is too heavy for them, so they fly with their tail noticeably lower than their head, whereas crows fly more like a raptor, flat and straight.

I find another difference is their behavior. Other black colored birds are less observant.

I noticed that a crow's feathers seem to be really dark black whereas some of the other birds have an iridescent sheen to their feathers.  Like other mentioned, I too noticed the black eye.  I did get tricked one time though relying on this feature!

Where I live I believe we only have crows and ravens; it can be hard to tell them apart in flight. I am not sure if this is correct, but if I see a pair, I assume they are ravens and if there are more than two, then I assume they are crows. I also listen to the sounds they make to determine which is which.

I live in Alaska and Minnesota, have both, confident in ID. However, had not been as aware of the grackle's eyes before!

Yup I mainly look for the shape of the bill and the shape of the tail.

confident I can identify the crow.

When I started this segment of the course and looked at the line up of other blackbirds, I realized just how much I knew because several are frequently sighted where I live in Northern New York.  I have to focus real closely when the birds are in flight, however.  A still shot is rather safe to look at and then make a decision.  Live action crows can be another story.  But I keep trying.  It's getting better!

I did practice many times using the identification quizzes.  Sometimes, the beaks were what help me id the crow or raven. I have seen enough red-winged blackbirds, grackles, and cowbirds it is not too difficult to distinguish between them.  But now that I have stated this I'll be eating "crow."

I have terrible time telling ravens and crows apart in flight.

Size and markings especially. Crows and Ravens have dark eyes. Grackles have longer thinner legs and have a peculiar " head bob" as they walk. Also just by listening to the birds calls.

Look at the eyes. Crows eyes are dark.

I found it easy to distinguish a crow from grackle, red wing blackbird and cow bird - eyes and colors - but the tail still confuses me, as I look for the round V’s. the sharp tail feathers and find I'm often wrong,

Not additional;  I look mainly at the beak because I've missed a couple looking at the tail.  But, I've missed a couple in this quiz, looking at the beak as well!  Sigh.  I believe, however, that I've learned a great deal thus far and I'm so excited about it!  I've even engaged my husband who's not as interested on the subject as I am, and he answered correctly about those snakes!  I live in Southern California and I'm very familiar with our beautiful crows; they 've fascinated me for a long time.   In searching for more information on the internet about crows, a few years ago, I came upon a gentleman's comment, which began: "well, of course you've read the book, 'The Tarantula in My Purse', and that's why you are on this site..", he says.  No, I thought, but I will definitely look into the book.  I bought it immediately, and that's when my love affair with these beautiful and intelligent creatures began.  I've shared this sweet little book with so many friends, that I never got it back from whoever the last such friend was!   Can't wait to continue my education with you!!  Thank you!

I live in Worcester County Massachusetts. I frequently see common grackles, redwing blackbirds, brown headed cowbirds, and American crows in my neighborhood. We've got a ton of local birds! I've very rarely see ravens here, and always in the western part of the state, though I saw many ravens when I visited the West Coast. I'm trying to ID a mystery blackbird I've spotted the last two summers. They look just like crows, but smaller--about the size of a mockingbird, with tails the same shape and proportion as an American crow and beaks similar to a crow, but just slightly smaller in proportion to the head. Their vocalizations are softer and less strident than an American crow's but deeper than most songbirds their size. More of a "WUH" than a "CAW." They've always shown up in small groups. I've never seen one alone. They are not irridescent like a grackle or raven, they're a plain matte black, and have no colored patches. Their heads are the same black as their bodies. They must be migrating when I've seen them, because they're uncommon sightings, always during summer. I don't recall ever seeing them before last year. I thought perhaps fish crow, but they're not known to come this far north and inland. Though with climate change, who knows? Our hardiness zone has changed over the years. Can some flocks of crows be small and fairly quiet? Unfortunately, I don't have a good zoom lens and haven't gotten close enough to catch good photos or videos. Would love to hear if anyone has thoughts or has seen these same blackbirds in the region!

Feel very confident about id of the american crow- been feeding a family for about 10 years now- haven’t seen too many Ravens here in the NW hill of Ct

I am apparently very good at identifying crows from ravens if they are right next to each other, are completely still, and I can put my face 6 inches away from them. I think I am good at telling them apart in the field as well, but with no one to correct me, how would I know if I were mistaken?  I think the voices of crows and ravens are very distinctive, as are the tails if they are flying overhead.

I see Crows, Common Grackles, Boat-tailed Grackles,  and Red-winged Blackbirds regularly in my yard and when I am in Florida. I recently got a trip to Russia and saw Rooks, Hooded Crows and Eurasian Blackbirds but I am still waiting to see my first Raven. Given my familiarity with these others I am pretty confident that a Raven will stick out from the crowd.

One tip that I have read about and is helpful to me is that ravens will occasionally soar in flight whereas crows never do that. This only helps if the bird is flying, of course. I also look for that wedge-shaped tail in the raven for confirmation.

I observe ravens in Iceland (work there) where there the only corvid is the raven. So it's easy for me there - but here in NYC and in MA where I am a residet, I have trouble. I have spotted ravens in the city, and they are huge - I compare them with hawks for size, as they are usually about the same distance away as a hawk (far), fly in pairs, land on top of high buildings, and I've even been able to catch the "wedge-shaped" tail in a photo. There are a lot of crows in NYC and at the Cape (Cod/MA) common crows and fish crows. They are noisy and in small flocks, rarely alone. The ravens, if they call, are distinctive in their croak.

Those eyes on the grackle make it very easy to distinguish a grackle from a crow! I feel pretty good about distinguishing a raven from a crow, too, as long as I am close enough to eyeball its size! Crows are so gorgeous, and I'm not just saying that because they are in my last name! :D

The eyes and beak help me identify a crow. The Wings and tails in flight still confuses me.

Crows have dark/black eyes. Some of the other birds with which the crow is sometimes confused have yellow/light brown eyes.

Fairly confident

Yes appears to be many different things that help you distinguish the difference . Size ,color of eyes  colors on body and tail feathers / shape  beaks

Yes, for the most part. But the crows around here in the Alberta Boreal are large. I've been listening mornings to a young family of ravens (judging only by sound). The fledgelings sound like crow caws, but when the adult chimes in, it's more of a cronk. I wouldn't bet the farm on identifying by sound.

Ravens are notably larger and have pointier tales and wings as well as a longer hooked beak

Yes I feel confident in identifying crows

I do see crows regularly (lots of them) and ravens less often, but still somewhat regularly (usually just one or two at a time). The first time I saw a raven in my area he was standing among a  group of crows and seagulls that I was feeding (he was hanging back a bit). At first I thought, that's a very large crow, as body-wise he was as large as a seagull... of course it wasn't a large crow, it was a raven. I got up to speed after that in telling the difference between the two. Sometimes it's harder at a distance, unless I hear their call... that's a real give-away.

I see both crows and ravens here in N California and have now learned to tell them apart by size and tail.

Yes I can tell the difference.

I’m not sure if there are Ravens here on the Monterey Bay, but I’m going to find out and if there are I will try to identify them.

The crow's facial features like eye and beak shape are different!

We don't have ravens in North Florida, so I don't need to distinguish between crows and ravens at home, but when traveling I can usually tell them apart by size and beak shape. I didn't know that ravens have longer throat feathers and that will be helpful for close up IDs in the future. Sometimes it's challenging to distinguish crows from grackles when they're flying. We also have Fish Crows, which I can distinguish from American Crows by their call.

The beak size and shape along with the eye coloring were two of the key identifiers that I took away from this lesson.

I am getting better at noticing beak size, eye color and tail shape/size. In New Jersey there are no ravens but plenty of grackles, red wings, cow birds and starlings. In flight is my biggest challenge.

I'm confident in being able to distinguish between crows and ravens. I've only seen a raven in captivity but the size difference was amazing. I have actually heard a crow that sounded a lot like a raven. His voice was totally different from all the other crows in my area (SF Bay Area).

I m fairly confident with these pictures, but will probably have more trouble distinguishing crows from ravens in reality.

I'm fairly confident in my ability to distinguish crows from ravens. I do so mostly by their call - caw and cronk. Ravens where I live are markedly bigger than crows. I look for the scruffy neck feathers to identify the raven.

I don't have much trouble separating the crows from the grackles and blackbirds when they are perched or nearby... and none at all when they are calling. I do run into issues though when they are in flight and at a distance. Then I am more like to confuse them with the vultures (black or turkey) until they turn or glide. I don't quite have the wingbeat patterns down or the silhouettes. The very strong light in Texas can wash out a lot of the telltale details.

I noticed that the crow's eyes are black, too. That helped me distinguish between them and the other birds on some of the close-up head shots.  I had more trouble identifying them in flight from a distance or by silhouette.

I'm pretty good distinguishing crow from non-crow/raven; but between a crow and a raven in real life, not still pictures, I'm a little shaky. It doesn't help that there aren't many ravens in this area for me to practice on. I appreciate the tips from this lesson, though. I'll be sure to put them into practice when I go birding in the future.

I am confident in my ability to distinguish between crows (or ravens) and non-crows/ravens. My ability to discriminate crows from ravens when perched or on the ground is also fairly solid, less so in flight which is how we often see them here in canyon country (southeast Utah). Habitat, habits and calls are helpful but unless seen flying solo or in pairs along canyon walls (ravens) or as a "murder" (crows) I frequently find it difficult to decide what I'm looking at. Although we are shown as being on the edge of their range, American crows are often seen here in large numbers.

I’m still having trouble with ravens and crows.  If I see a small flock - say 5 -  does that mean it can’t be a raven?

I am confident that I can distinguish crows from other birds (though perhaps not yet from ravens) especially the babies, although I doubt that I will ever get that close. "Our" fledgling was walking about on our porch as a friend arrived for dinner. Oh! the out cry from parents and relatives as he approached! I wish I had seen the youngster.

Sometimes from a distance I’ll see a crow or a grackle walking by itself picking at stuff in the lawn. From a distance, when you can’t gauge size, they still seem confusing to me. However, I’ll try to pay more attention to see if there are posture, walking, or behavioral differences I can spot.

I'm not as good as I'd like to be in distinguishing a Crow from a Raven.  I think I just need more experience and/or practice.  The lesson was clear.  I do better on your photo ID quizzes when the bird comparison is from the same aspect.

I am confident in my ability to distinguish crows from ravens, however, we do not have ravens where I live.